


Not Quite Yourself

by charleesi



Category: Carmilla (Web Series)
Genre: Angst, F/F, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-09
Updated: 2016-01-09
Packaged: 2018-05-12 21:29:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,984
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5681536
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/charleesi/pseuds/charleesi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Laura attempts to convince Carmilla to do impressions of famous vampires.</p>
<p>Largely fluff with some angst near the end.</p>
<p>(Some slight liberties taken with canon.)</p>
<p>Exact placement is not quite determined but sometime in season 1.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Not Quite Yourself

“No.”

“Come on…”

Carmilla glared even harder at Laura, if such a thing was possible, and raised a single hand in warning. Laura was hardly deterred by such a display. Carmilla may have been a vampire, but she was a vampire who had been sharing a room with her for weeks now, if she had truly wanted to hurt Laura she had plenty of opportunities to do so. Besides, she’d faced a down a flaming vortex of literature. One broody vampire with a thing for her hardly seemed threatening by comparison.

“I don’t think I’m asking all that much.”

A pause. Carmilla’s eyes continue to bore into Laura’s in that perpetual look of coldly indifferent fury that Carmilla seemed to be a master of from the first time Laura met her. Laura stared back with her own look of determined journalistic integrity. It wasn’t a particularly convincing or well-practiced look but it held its own. Barely. The next words Laura was going to speak never ventured further than the tip of her tongue. They were beaten back by Carmilla’s own sudden reply.

“I won’t do it.”

The look turned sullen, petulant but still with that never fading air of rage behind it. Carmilla turned away and rose, stalking across the room to the fridge. Laura stayed seated, sparing a single glance at her camera before turning to face Carmilla. She watched as Carmilla leaned over and opened the fridge; extracting something that Laura couldn’t see from her point of view but which undoubtedly belonged to her, not Carmilla. She didn’t even bother protesting. It was a wasted effort. Her gaze crept back to the camera and over to Carmilla again. She sighed and pressed the button. The camera went dark, the soft electronic hum of its inner workings fading out. Carmilla turned back to Laura, eyes narrowed.

“Look, camera’s off. Just us.” Laura smiled in what she hoped was an encouraging and friendly expression. “No one outside this room will know.”

Carmilla stared at Laura for several more seconds, unnaturally still. The stillness was broken when she took another bite of the cookie that was definitely not hers and stepped forward, collapsing onto her bed. Laura’s yellow pillow disappeared behind her back, yet another thing that Laura had long since given up her efforts to reclaim or fight against. They sat in silence for some time, the only interruption being Carmilla’s periodic bites of the cookie that was definitely not hers.

The silence stretched out impossibly far. Laura waiting for Carmilla to say something, anything. Even just an angry no. Carmilla for her part was attempting to wait Laura out. It was a futile effort. Laura had her mind set on this and when that happened, well the library incident was proof of what happened then. Carmilla swallowed the final bites of the cookie that was definitely not hers. She licked the crumbs off her fingers, deliberately dragging every little motion out. Laura didn’t budge. She sat and watched and waited.

“I’m not doing it.”

Laura didn’t answer immediately. She continued to stare at Carmilla, her face drawn in a determined scowl.

“Please? I’m not giving up.”

Carmilla almost smiled but just as the edges of her lips started to curl upwards they were dragged back down into that familiar grimace. She opened her mouth but closed it again before the first syllable could sneak out. That action repeated several more times and Laura’s own lips started to form their own smile. It hardly mattered now whether Carmilla actually indulged her request. She had rendered her speechless. That was a victory in and of itself. Carmilla turned away as her scowl began to mimic the curve of Laura’s grin. She couldn’t help it.

“Fine.” The word was so quiet that Laura might have missed it had she not been Laura. “But only one and I choose which one.”

Laura’s mouth gaped open in shock. “That’s no fun.” She tried to not sound petulant but it was hard not to. She wanted to say more. She wanted to try and convince Carmilla to do more. She knew all too well however, that trying to push further now was only going to convince Carmilla to renege completely.

Carmilla smiled, but it was not the reluctant mirror of Laura’s smile that she had concealed before. No, this was the smile of a predator. It was all teeth and barely masked hunger. Laura couldn’t stop the tiny shudder that ran through her at that expression. She knew that Carmilla had no intention of harming her but the raw desire in Carmilla’s eyes did make her briefly question that particular belief. Carmilla stepped closer and then closer still until she was mere inches from Laura. She moved even closer, the cold of her skin pressing to the warmth of Laura’s neck. Sharp exhalations sent Laura’s hair fluttering softly and Carmilla’s hand pressed to Laura’s.

“Darling, darling.” She murmured. “I live in you; and you would die for me, I love you so.”

Laura pulled back, momentarily speechless. Her cheeks burned red. Carmilla only smirked at her. There was silence for a moment as Laura gathered herself. Carmilla took the opportunity to lounge back onto the bed.

“That doesn’t count.” She said with an air of definitive authority that she didn’t really believe in.

“And why not?” Carmilla asked, one eyebrow raised. “I gave you my impression of a popular vampire.”

Laura turned away for a moment and then spun back around. “Yeah, yourself.” Her hands swung emphatically through the air, simple speech proving insufficient to convey her point. Carmilla only laughed.

“Well, I am technically a famous vampire.” Carmilla said. “Even if that bloody Irishman got it all wrong.” She added under her breath.

Laura sighed, slumping back onto her chair. “But you can’t do an impression of yourself. That defeats the whole point.”

Carmilla shrugged. “That’s your fault for not specifying that.” She fell back onto her bed and turned to Laura. The exact second she did she realized her mistake but it was too late. The puppy dog eyes had gotten hold of her. There was just something about that pathetic, pleading look that got under Carmilla’s skin. If you were to tell Carmilla that “the puppy dog eyes” was just Laura’s face, she would vehemently deny it.

“Alright, fine.” Laura practically leapt from the chair, her face split by a seemingly impossible grin. “But I’m still only doing one.” The grin drooped only slightly.

“Can I choose it, at least?” Laura interrupted.

Carmilla gasped, raising a hand to her chest. “Don’t you trust me, cupcake?” Laura threw a scalding look in Carmilla’s direction, indicating the answer to that particular question. Carmilla shrugged back. “Fine, you choose.”

Laura’s eyes seem to sparkle with all the opportunities she had just been given. There were so many possibilities and somehow, she had to choose just one. She could go with a classic like Dracula, Lestat or Nosferatu. She could go a little more modern; Angel, the Bacchanalian vampire babes from Xena or even Edward Cullen. Edward Cullen was certainly tempting, if only for Carmilla’s reaction.

As Laura deliberated upon exactly which vampire impression she would request, Carmilla stared at her. It was moments like these that Carmilla loved, not that she would ever admit it. The way she could practically see the gears turning in Laura’s head was oddly charming. Not to mention that when Laura was deep in thought like this it allowed Carmilla to watch her freely. It was not an opportunity she ever wasted and today was no different.

Her eyes traced the soft curve of Laura’s cheekbones before lingering on her pursed lips. From there they moved up past her cute little nose and onto her eyes, eyes which glimmered with the kind of passion and energy that had first drawn Carmilla to Laura. The kind of passion and energy that made it impossible for her to tear herself away and nearly drove her mad with longing. Carmilla’s reverie was broken by the soft sound of Laura clearing her throat. Carmilla blinked.

“Yes?” she said. Laura grinned back, something that did little to inspire Carmilla’s confidence in her choice.

“Dracula, and not the good ones. The campy one.” Laura replied, barely able to contain the satisfaction in her voice. Carmilla tried to keep her face steady but one tiny twitch betrayed her. Whether it revealed amusement or anger was hard to tell.

“I met him once you know.” She paused briefly. “Bit of an ass.” Laura couldn't stop herself from scoffing in disbelief. Carmilla merely shrugged. “But enough about that.” She pushed herself back off the bed and approached Laura again. The languid grace of her earlier movements was nowhere to be found. In its place were the comically exaggerated movements of bad cartoon vampire. Despite the raised hands and the awkward “sneaking” steps, Carmilla managed to retain some little piece of her earlier grace. At least to Laura's eyes. Carmilla eventually reached Laura and loomed over her. There was no slow seductive caress this time, no gentle breath that sent shivers across Laura's skin. Carmilla's hands gripped Laura's shoulder and she leaned in toward her neck. She opened her mouth and for a brief moment Laura thought she might actually bite her and for a moment, she almost wanted it.

“I vant to suck your blood.” The accent was exaggerated but even so, it was somewhat authentic. She may have learned to speak without it but she could never lose it completely. Laura burst into laughter and very nearly fell off the chair. She was only saved by Carmilla's quick reflexes. Once she had Laura back onto the chair Carmilla immediately moved back and slumped onto the bed once more.

For now she simply watched Laura, enjoying her laughter which was better than any music to her ears. She immediately fell back into that familiar routine, eyes tracing every curve and crease of Laura and committing them to the deepest parts of her memory. Part of her wanted to just say it, right then and right there. The other more rational part screamed about the consequences in response and with it came the flashbacks.

The moment that she realized El had betrayed her.

The coffin door slamming shut, locking the world away from her forever.

Those endless hours in pitch darkness, alone.

The slow gnawing madness as the hunger grew.

The precise moment she lost all hope of freedom.

“Carmilla?” Laura said, hand waving in front of Carmilla's face. The sound of Laura's voice was like a beacon in the dark forest of her trauma. She blinked again, roused from her momentary reminiscence. “You alright?” Carmilla forced a smile.

“I'm fine, cupcake. But I think you've had your fun and now I need to have mine.” She stood, Laura hastily sidestepping her. She glanced over at Laura again, her face a maelstrom of emotion. Sadness, joy, fear and so much more twisted in complex patterns. She was about to turn away when Laura looked over at her. Their eyes connected and in that instant, Carmilla saw the same emotional tempest on Laura's face. Already she felt like she knew Laura's face as well as her own, better perhaps since she hadn't really seen her own in centuries. Amongst all those emotions one stood out stronger than the rest; love. Carmilla turned and hurried from the room without another word.

Laura simply stood, shocked. She knew Carmilla's face well and she could swear with every ounce of belief she had that she had seen exactly the same thing in it that Carmilla had seen in hers; love. Several minutes passed and she eventually shook her head before walking over to the chair. She sat and reached up to turn the camera back on, her face already composing itself into her look of determined journalistic integrity.


End file.
